By Shelly Lurie

Fourth of July is a lively national holiday that all Americans enjoy partaking in. We love celebrating the independence of our country and all the fun customs that come along with it.

Here at Labor 411, we know festivities are starting and you’ll be looking for something easy and delicious to bring to a BBQ or gathering. We’ve come up with a fun and delicious recipe for patriotic cupcakes that you can get really creative with!

As always, our recipes are designed to be prepared with union-made ingredients and support unionized grocery stores.

Patriotic Cupcakes

Ingredients (purchase from your local unionized grocery store): Makes 24 cupcakes
1 package Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix
3 packages Betty Crocker baking cups/cupcake liners in red, white and blue
1 package Betty Crocker gel food coloring – red and blue
1 container Betty Crocker white frosting
1 1/4 cups of water
1/3 cup of Mazola vegetable oil
3 Horizon eggs
Strawberries or raspberries – for decoration
Blueberries or blackberries – for decoration

Instructions:
1. Line cupcake pans (enough for 24 cupcakes) with red, which and blue baking cups – 8 of each color
2. Follow instructions on the cake mix packaging for preparing the batter and preheating the oven
3. Before pouring the batter into the cupcake pans, divide it into 3 equal parts using 2 additional bowls. With the gel food coloring, die one mixture blue and in another bowl die the mixture red. You should now have 3 colors of batter – red, white, and blue.  
4. Pour the 3 batters into the baking cups – there should be roughly 8 of each color. We suggest mixing and matching the batter color with the cupcake liner color.
5. Place pans in the oven and follow instructions on the packaging for baking times.
6. While cupcakes are baking, wash the berries. Slice the strawberries from the tip to the base to create thin triangular shapes.
7. Once cupcakes have cooled, frost them and decorate with the berries. Get creative!

Enjoy!

Have a union-made cocktail, drink, or recipe idea? Email us at mikem@sendersgroup.com